At first I thought the warning near the end of this paragraph was serious, and then I thought it was a little goofy, and now I sense a hint of sarcasm. Must . . . categorize . . .

Thanks to a war between European brewing companies, it’s never been easier to catch a healthy beer buzz. Or get yourself totally sloshed. In November BrewDog, a Scottish microbrewery started three years ago, released a new brand, dubbed Tactical Nuclear Penguin. The beer set a new record by weighing in at a scary 32% alcohol-by-volume, over six times the strength of familiar domestic brands like Budweiser. As explained on a cheeky video on the company’s website (warning: the clip contains simulated penguin sex), the brewery was able to attain such a high alcohol content for its product by freezing the beer at a local ice cream factory, at temperatures as low as -6 degrees, for 21 days. Alcohol freezes at lower temperatures than water, and removing water from the solution increased the alcohol concentration.

You can read the entire article here.

———
* Oh, and that’s SARcasMOMeter, like thermometer, hygrometer, sphygmomanometer.

I apologize in advance for the trite yearly-family-newsletter tone of this post. The videos are short, I promise.

———

John, when he’s not grokking universe-defining equations, powering up a new radioactive cyclotron beam, or reminding young zoology majors of the difference between speed and velocity for the umpteenth time, has taken to brewing beer in his apartment.

(more…)